Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is the sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused, e.g., by an electrical short or dielectric breakdown. ESD can cause damage to sensitive electronic devices and, in some instances, ESD events can even cause failure of integrated circuits, particularly as they become more miniaturized or scaled down. For this reason, ESD is one of the primary considerations in semiconductor advanced technology nodes.
For example, the trend in scaling the technology nodes (miniaturizing) of integrated circuits (ICs) has resulted in smaller devices which consume less power, yet provide more functionally at higher speeds. The miniaturization process, though, has also increased device susceptibility to ESD events due to various factors including the use of thinner dielectric materials and associated lowered dielectric breakdown voltages. ESD structures or devices are designed to protect the circuit from such ESD events. However, conventional ESD structures have an inherently large capacitance which can affect the devices which they are protecting.